The BEST lens for Portraits for the Canon EOS 350D?

Hi Allison, you have some beautifull pics in your gallery.
I have the Nikon version of the plastic 50mm f1.8, $90. Its light , fast, and sharp. I dont think of it as cheap, I think of it as a GEM! The only lens I have that is as sharp, maybe slightly sharper even is a $580 100mm Minolta macro.
Try setting your zoom lens to 50mm and see if you can work with that focal length comfortably. If so go for the 50 1.8, unless you can spring for the 50 1.4.
As for flash look at Vivitar 283. about $70, and powerfull enough to be bounced from an umbrella. I use sunpack 383 flash (similar, but not as sturdy as viv 283), even though i have the top of the line Nikon flash. ( still havent put batteries in it.)
Also look into a flip flash type of bracket. This will keep the flash above the lens when you shoot verticly.
Sorry for being breif, been knocked off the net several times trying to post here.
Good luck,
Mark.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mdmc

This post is not making sense to me. 50mm on a cannon digital 350xt is equal to 80mm on a film camera, a pretty good choice for portraits:confused:

---

Well, it's a little more complicated than that. But basically, I agree with you. The optics of the 50mm lens are still 50mm optics. They aren't as flat as a longer lens would be. The digital crop factor is just that - a crop. But most of us agree that 50mm lenses work great for portraits on digital SLRs with APS-sized sensors. And longer lenses are often impractical since you have to be so far away to use them with most digital SLRs.

And in response to 92135011's comment about the quality of the 50mm f/1.8 - I know a bunch of working pros who happily use that lens. The optics are wonderful and it's cheap as dirt. Buy it, break it, and buy another. But it's not really likely to break.

Wow! Thank you all so much for your help! So it looks like the winner is the 50mm f1.8 lens. That'll please my hubby hehe.

Can you give me some advise on the best family portrait lens?

Also, would the 50mm f1.8 lens be any good for the sort of portrait illustrated below?

Yes it would, if you could move far enough away.
You said you were cramped for space, but in a normal size room I think you'd be able to do that. After all, you managed it with your current lens I assume?
If you're unsure just set your lens to 50mm and see if you would work with it fixed at that focal length.

Ahhhh that's where you have got me PAul. How do I set my lens to 50mm? I am still not completely familiar with my camera.

You can choose:
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Medium Telephoto Lens
or Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens
https://kidstrampolinecenter.com/wha...n-photography/